China

The People's Republic of China

Population:
1,400,000,000

Area (sq km):
9,596,960

Capital City:
Beijing

National Holiday:
1949-10-01

China, one of the five largest countries, takes up a large portion of Eastern Asia. It is bordered by Russia and Mongolia to the North, Russia and North Korea to the Northeast, the Pacific Ocean to the East, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, India, Bhutan, and Nepal to the South, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan to the West, and Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan to the Northwest. China claims ownership of regions that wish to be independent: Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, and Tibet.

The capital of China is Beijing, which is its second-largest city. Shanghai is the country's most populous city, and also the most populous city in the world; China has four cities in the world's top-ten most populated cities. The majority of the population lives to the East and South of the middle of the country, with the West and North being more sparsely populated, consisting of smaller cities, villages, and large farmlands.

China is also the most populated country, and has been for many years. Fears of overpopulation casued the Chinese government to implement a "one-child policy" in 1976, where couples were only allowed to have one child. This was repealled in 2016 to allow the younger population to help replace the aging populace.

The economy of China consists of farming (especially rice and pork), mining, oil and gas, and fishing. The majority of the economy though is based on manufacturing, with many other countries shipping raw materials to China to process them into manufactured goods and ship/sell them back to the originating countries. Due to this manufacturing dominance, China is the world's largest exporter of goods.

China has a very long history, with many victories and atrocities over that time. Dating back as far as two million years (according to the fossil record), and with written history going back as far as 7000BC.

China, or parts of it, was ruled by dynasties from 2500BC up to around 500BC, when the Zhou dynasty was split up by warlords into seven kingdoms. In 221BC, the Qin kingdom fought and won against the other six kingdoms and unified China under one ruler, starting the Qin dynasty. This lasted for fifteen years, when it was replaced by the Han dynasty. In 220AD, the Han dynasty fell, and China was split into the Three Kingdoms. In 280AD, the Jin kingdom overthrew the other two, and the Jin dynasty started. In 304AD, the Jin dynasty fell, and China was split again, this time into the Sixteen Kingdoms. These kingdoms were joined into the Northern and Southern dynasties in 420AD, which lasted until 581AD when the Sui dynasty joined them into one. The Sui was followed by the Tang dynasty, which lasted until 907AD, when it fell to the Song dynasty. China was conquered by Mongolia over the 13th century, and Kublai Khan (the Mongolian leader) established the Yuan dynasty in 1271. The Yuan dynasty was overthrown in 1368, and the Ming dynasty began. The Ming was overthrown by the Qing dynasty in 1644, and lasted until 1912.

In 1912, the Xinhai Rebellion ended dynastic rule of China and established the Republic of China under the Kuomintang. Around 1927, Chiang Kai-Shek took control of the Kuomintang and moved the capital of China to Nanjing from Beijing. This was part of the start of the Chinese Civil War between the Kuomintang and the People's Liberation Army (Communist Party). In 1936, the Kuomintang and the Communists formed a truce to fight off Japanese invasion of China during World War II. After the war, the Civil War continued, and the Communists drove the Kuomintang off of the mainland back to Taiwan. In 1949, Mao Zedong established the People's Republic of China under Communist rule. During Chairman Mao's rule, he instituted the infamous Cultural Revolution, which aimed to create factories on rural farmlands, abolish landlords, and the arrests/murders of students, professors, and intellectuals. After Mao's death in 1976, Deng Xiaoping took control of the country and relaxed the strict government control of the people.

Today, China is still a communist nation, but it allows its citizens civil liberties not normally associated with Communism. China is still viewed as a non-ideal nation for its government control over things such as media, and for its terrible human rights record, especially since WWII.

The National Day of the People's Republic of China is on October 1st, 1949. It celebrates the formation of the People's Republic of China under Mao Zedong.

The red of the flag represents revolution, with the yellow representing the people. The large star represents the Communist Party, with the four smaller stars representing the four working classes united under the party: the working class, the peasantry, the urban petty bourgeoisie, and the national bourgeoisie.

China is the English name of the country, Zhongguo being the Chinese name for it. "China" comes from the Qin dynasty of ~300BC, the first dynasty to unite the nation. "Zhongguo" translates to "Central Nation".